Researchers used text messaging to build up a map of what activities people routinely rated as bringing the most and least happiness to their daily lives and found that sex ranked first in all three categories measured in the survey: Pleasure, meaning and engagement.

Drinking alcohol or partying came second in terms of pleasure but only 10th in terms of meaning, the Daily Mail reported.

Using Facebook and doing housework both ranked low on the happiness scale, according to the study compiled by Carsten Grimm from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Feeling sick was lowest rated in terms of pleasure, it revealed.

Grimm used mobile-phone text-messaging to collect data on what people did during the day and how they felt about it, a technique called 'experience sampling'.

“Those who tend to be high on all three orientations to happiness not only score high on life satisfaction, they also tend to have higher experiences of pleasure, meaning, engagement and happiness in their daily lives. This means that being able to seek happiness in different ways may enrich your everyday experience and increase your overall well-being,” he said.